To many Yankee fans, Gary Sánchez is the greatest catcher on the planet, but that is far from the truth. He has his fair share of flaws and inconsistencies which are often ignored because of his immense power. Sánchez is no Superman, but boasts Herculean power, and should end up as the next great Yankees catcher.
Historically, the Yankees have legendary catchers such as Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bill Dickey, Thurman Munson, and Jorge Posada. In the 2010s, the Yankees utilized big-name catchers such as Russell Martin, Brian McCann, and of course Gary Sánchez. All three catchers had an offensive and defensive upside, but Sánchez has had mixed reviews on both sides of the ball.
Certainly, the Yankees can expect Sánchez to hit the ball hard when he barrels one up. His 91.0 MPH Exit Velocity and 108 Home Runs rank first among all MLB catchers since 2016. He was also the second-fastest player in MLB history to hit 100 homers. Sánchez completed this astounding feat in a mere 355 games.
While Sánchez has ungodly power, he strikes out a ton. His 25.8 K% ranks 11th among all catchers since 2016. Sánchez can be a very streaky hitter. He can slug a bunch of homers in a short span, but when he struggles, his K% can balloon over 30%. In the 2020 shortened season so far, Sánchez has an unsustainable 42.9 K%, which is the reason why Sánchez is batting .125 this year.
Besides hitting dingers and striking out, Sánchez has been inconsistent offensively. His 2016-17 seasons, Sánchez hit above .275 and had an OBP .345 or higher in each of these two seasons. Since then, Sánchez has not hit above .232 and his OBP never went above a .320 mark. Although Sánchez possesses an above-average career walk rate (9.4 BB%), his low batting average underscores his discipline in the batter’s box.
Sánchez may be past his 2016-17 peak, but Yankee fans should expect him to turn around his 2020 season. Sánchez has looked sharp in the current Red Sox series and has belted a homer in each of the first two games. His diminutive BABIP of .120 and impressive Exit Velocity especially indicates that Sánchez will be on the upswing as well.
Position players should be judged based upon their offensive and defensive outlook. Of course, offense is just one facet of the game for Sánchez, and his defense has an entirely different outlook. For starters, let’s take a look at the positives for Sánchez behind the dish. He has one of the best-throwing arms in baseball and his throws averages over 86.0 MPH behind the plate each year. His cannon behind the plate was good enough for a 37.8% CS% during the 2016-17 seasons.
Surprisingly, his CS% has dipped to 27.2% since the 2018 season. Oddly enough, Sánchez’s arm has not diminished during that time, so what seems to be the problem? Sánchez can throw the ball away from time to time. When he makes an accurate throw down to second base with his arm strength, it could be considered a piece of art. However, Sánchez has made 21 errors behind the plate in the same span, so a fair share of those errors have been on inaccurate throws on stolen base attempts.
Nonetheless, the biggest problem for Sánchez defensively has been the passed balls (PB) and wild pitches (WP). As long as Sánchez has been a regular starter for the Yankees (2016), he has 51 PB and 150 WP, which rank first and fifth respectively among all MLB catchers. His poor blocking skills have even affected the Yankees in the playoffs, where every run counts more. Thus, his defensive flaw has appeared at the most crucial times for the Yankees.
To top it off, Sánchez has drastically different reviews with his framing ability. Framing is a requirement for catchers because their subtle movements with their mitts can steal strikes away, and present pitches better to umpires. According to Baseball Savant, Sánchez is in the 56th percentile of catchers in terms of framing ability. On the other hand, according to Fangraphs, among catchers with 2500 innings caught from 2016-2020, Sánchez ranks 18th out of 28 players with -6.7 FRM.
Indeed, Sánchez has his fair share of defensive woes. Nevertheless, Sánchez does have a new catching stance behind the plate. Yankees’ catching coach Tanner Swanson has instructed Sánchez to squat lower in the crouch. By shifting his right leg lower to the ground, the belief is that Sánchez can frame the ball better, make stronger throws, and block pitches better. Sánchez has implemented this technique during the season so far and looks a little better behind the plate.
Despite all of Sánchez’s offensive and defensive flaws, he is an astounding catcher. Though it would be unfair to assume that Sánchez is better than some of the best two-way catchers in the 2000s, many of whom are/were more consistent than him. To name a few, Sánchez is not better than Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Yadier Molina, Buster Posey, Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, Jorge Posada, Jason Varitek, and Russell Martin. All of these catchers put together some of the best two-way seasons in recent memory.
Today, many baseball experts entrench Sánchez as a top-5 catcher across baseball. His ranking can be as high as #3 on some lists, but he is not in the same league as Yasmani Grandal or J.T. Realmuto. Those two have few flaws if any. Therefore, to answer the question presented as the title of the article, yes Sánchez is overrated to baseball fans who believe that his insane strength and hose of arm completely define him as a player. Contrarily, baseball fans that can see Sánchez truly as a player rate Sánchez just fine. Thus, Yankee fans and baseball fans should recognize his flaws, but still, be in awe of the talented Yankee backstop.
Key:
K%: Strikeouts/Plate Appearances. MLB average: ~ 20.0%.
Batting Average (BA): Hits/At Bats. MLB average: .252 BA.
OBP: On Base Percentage (Walks + Hits + Hit By Pitches / Plate Appearances). MLB 2019 average: .323 OBP.
BB%: Walks/Plate Appearances. MLB average: ~ 8.0%.
BABIP: Batted Balls in Play. MLB average: ~ .300.
CS%: Caught stealing %. MLB average: ~28.0 %.
FRM: Framing runs. The number of runs saved by framing pitches. Zero is average, greater than zero is above average, and less than zero is below average.
Sources:
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/gary-sanchez-596142?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb
https://www.mlb.com/news/fewest-games-to-100-career-home-runs
Featured Articles
Featured Writers
